His Second Chance
by Nienna Tinehtele
Summary: Blair had told him everyone deserves a second chance...and she was gonna make sure he got his.


This is my first try writing Marcus/Blair. I've loved them together since I saw Terminator Salvation and have wanted to get this written for a long time. Took me awhile to get it to where I'm happy with it. I hope I did them justice!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or Terminator Salvation. Dialogue from the movie isn't mine.

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His eyes were going to be the death of her. Anguish, confusion, and pain radiated from the electric blue depths. Blair struggled to hold the impassive look on her face as she watched Barnes stare at him, playing with a bullet as he hung from the ceiling in chains; the metal in his face and chest exposed through the torn, gaping skin.

Clamping both hands tightly over her mouth, she struggled to choke back her gasp of horror as she watched Barnes chamber the round and shoot Marcus point blank in the chest. Tears welled up in her eyes and her throat burned with the effort of holding back her sobs, as a heart wrenching cry of pain filled anguish ripped from his throat.

Quickly swiping her eyes, she took a shuddering breath, before stepping through the doorway to let her presence be known.

"Connor wants to see you," she told him, praying the sound of tears wasn't in her voice and he wouldn't see through the lie.

"What for?"

She tilted her head, throwing him an "are you stupid?" look. "Like he's gonna tell me Barnes," she retorted.

Glancing at Marcus briefly she turned back to Barnes, holding her hand out. "Let me see that."

A smirk crossed his face as he handed her the pistol. Moving in front of him she brought the pistol up and aimed straight at Marcus's exposed chest; praying that he would forgive her for what she was about to do.

She pulled the trigger. The bullet bounced off of the metal in his chest with a clang, making his body swing on its chains from the force. Marcus didn't react, just watched her with a hopeless, wounded look in his eyes that made pain blossom in her chest.

Without looking at him she asked Barnes. "You want me to tell Connor you're not coming?"

"No. Watch him," he said gruffly, turning to leave.

Watching Barnes from the corner of her eye she waited till door banged shut before moving swiftly into action. Walking to a lever on the wall she pulled it, cringing at his short scream of surprise as he plummeted to the bottom of the shaft with a huge bang. Grabbing her bag she tossed it after him before swinging down the chains. Landing lightly on her feet, she crouched, rummaging through the bag till she found the hand torch. Firing it up, she quickly cut through the chains holding him to the train axle.

As soon as he was free, Marcus' hand flashed out, latching tightly to her throat. She stared evenly at him, unafraid, as he searched her eyes for something. Obviously finding it, he loosened his grip, his hand drifting softly to caress her cheek. He leaned in close, bringing his mouth a hairs breadth from hers, and she almost forgot to breathe as the world around them was forgotten in this one stolen, intimate moment.

He spoke softly. "Thank you."

Suddenly a siren erupted, warning lights flashing. Releasing his hold on her neck, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet. She pulled explosives out of her pack, and stuck them to a big round grate in the wall next to her. Moving back she grabbed Marcus as she pulled her pistol out. He wrapped his arms around her, making himself a shield, as she took aim and blew the grate out.

The door above banged open and she heard people scrambling into room before Marcus pushed her towards the tunnel. "Get in!" he shouted as he grabbed the grate and pulled it over himself as a shield; a hail of bullets showered down on him.

When it stopped he shoved the grate off and growled defiantly up at them. Turning, he dove into the tunnel after Blair. "Get Down!" he pushed Blair down and threw himself down on top of her, wrapping his body around hers to protect her as much as he could; fire engulfing them, the heat from the explosion searing across his back.

As soon as it died down, he was on his feet, pulling Blair up. "Let's move!" At the end of the tunnel was a small grate that Marcus quickly kicked out. Emerging from the small hole he glanced around and realized where they were. "We're back in the minefield."

"I have a plan." Blair told him as she pulled out a role of detonator cord. Throwing the spool so it unrolled in a straight line, she pulled it, detonating the mines in a straight line so they had a safe path across the field.

Gunfire rang out and Marcus pulled her along, dodging exploding mines and bullets as they dove for cover behind the jeep. "Are you ok?" he shouted over the roar.

Pushing her tangled hair out of her face, she reassured him. "Yeah, I'm okay!"

A bright light suddenly lit up the area around them like daylight. "There they are!" someone shouted as another rocket screamed towards them.

"Run, goddamnit!" he shouted as the jeep exploded behind them.

Bullets flew wildly, narrowly missing them as they headed for cover behind a brick wall. Panting heavily, Marcus looked at her. "Now what?" he asked.

She stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment. "My plan stopped at the jeep," she told him.

Cautiously, he barely peeked around the wall, and fire erupted, almost taking his head off. Snapping back around they both froze, backs against the wall. "I'll draw their fire, you take out the light."

Nodding she pulled her pistol. Slowly he stuck his hand out barely getting it into view before a bullet ripped violently through it, making enough of a distraction to allow Blair to take out the light.

Glancing down at his hand he stared for a moment, still unable to comprehend what he was looking at. The skin on his palm had been torn away by the bullet, leaving only shiny metal to be seen.

A vehicle roared toward them and Marcus was pulled out of his thoughts as more gunfire erupted hitting the wall right above their heads. Grabbing Blair's hand he pulled her along roughly. "Keep your head down! Keep your head down! Go, go, go, go!"

As they sprinted amid the fire again, Blair took a bullet to the leg, crying out as she hit the ground hard. "C'mon!" Marcus shouted dragging her by one arm, hauling her out of the open and behind some cover. "You alright?" he asked.

She winced, trying to push the pain in her leg away. "Let's get you out of here." she replied determinedly through clenched teeth before stumbling to her feet.

Marcus wrapped an arm around her shoulders, helping her in a hobbling run, grunts of pain coming from her as she tried to keep up with him. Another rocket blew by them, sending them both to the ground, dirt erupting in a shower that gave them some cover.

"C'mon Blair! We gotta go!" he shouted.

She shook her head as she lay still on the ground. "I can't. I won't make it. Just go without me."

"No. I can't just leave you here." His blue eyes glowed fiercely.

She glared at him. "I'll just slow you down…you won't make it! Please Marcus, I'll be fine."

"They'll kill you for betraying them Blair!"

"Then so be it. Everybody deserves a second chance Marcus, and this is yours. It's your heart that makes you human, not the metal in your body that makes you a machine."

"Blair…"

She swiped at her eyes, pushing the tears back and taking a deep breath to compose herself. "Give me your jacket!" she tugged at his sleeve.

"What?"

"Switch jackets with me. They'll think it's you, if I roll over on my stomach and they just see my back. I can buy you a little time. Please just go!" she pleaded as she handed her jacket to him and quickly pulled his on.

"I can't leave you…" he broke off.

"Yes you can. Go! Now!" She shoved him away from her.

He stared intensely at her his voice low and hard with promise. "I'll be back."

She watched him disappear into the night before tucking her hair beneath the collar of his jacket and rolling over, hands on her head to await her fate.

* * *

Blair watched as Marcus stared at her from the other side of the fence, hidden in the shadows, anguish at leaving her behind written on his face. She stumbled slightly, crying out as the two men holding her pulled this way and that, sending pain shooting through her leg. Anger washed over his face and Marcus made a move to get up and defend her. She gave a slight shake of her head, praying that he wouldn't come after her. _Go Marcus!_ She pleaded silently. _Save yourself. _

He watched her intently for a moment before nodding back at her. Scrambling to his feet he disappeared into the darkness. Blair let them pull her along, knowing she'd done what she could to save him…he wasn't a machine like the others said. And while he didn't know what he was, or what had happened to make him like this. Everybody deserves a second chance. She saw past the metal skeleton, all that made him look like a machine; she saw the heart that made him human… the heart that made him want to go after his friends who had been taken by Skynet, with not thought to himself. She had seen the strength of his heart…and in it she didn't see a machine…she saw a man.

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What is it that makes us human? It's not something you can program. You can't put it into a chip. It's the strength of the human heart…the difference between us and the machines.

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A/N: Well? How did I do? I hope you all liked it! Please review! I definitely want to know what you thought of it!


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